poster

”Would the smart cane benefit me?”: Perceptions of the Visually Impaired towards Smart Canes

Authors:

Rezylle Milallos,

Vinita Tibdewal,

Andre Ogueh Udegbe,

Tae OhAuthors Info & Claims

ASSETS '21: Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

Article No.: 98, Pages 1 - 3

https://doi.org/10.1145/3441852.3476524

Published: 17 October 2021 Publication History

Abstract

The white cane is used as one of the options for mobility by people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) but it comes with limitations like the lack of overhead detection and recognition of safety hazards. Smart canes were designed to address some of the white cane’s issues but the adoption of this technology has been minimal. We spoke with 16 BVI participants for an in-depth view on their smart cane experiences and needs. While the biggest concern was related to cost, we found that other factors like product consistency, durability, and the lack of awareness, trust, and confidence from the users all contribute to the low adoption rate of smart canes.

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References

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[n.d.]. 10 fascinating facts about the white cane. https://www.perkins.org/stories/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-white-cane. (Accessed on 03/26/2021).

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[n.d.]. 6. Care and Feeding of the Long White Cane. https://nfb.org//sites/default/files/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr15/issue1/f150121.html

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[n.d.]. BAWA Cane. https://www.bawa.tech. (Accessed on 03/26/2021).

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[n.d.]. Disability Statistics. https://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/acs.cfm?statistic=1. (Accessed on 03/26/2021).

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[n.d.]. Guiding Eyes FAQ. https://www.guidingeyes.org/about/faqs/. (Accessed on 03/26/2021).

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[n.d.]. UltraCane. https://www.ultracane.com/ultracane. (Accessed on 03/26/2021).

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[n.d.]. WeWALK Smart Cane For Visually Impaired and Blind People. https://wewalk.io/en/. (Accessed on 03/26/2021).

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Summer Asad, Brittany Mooney, Ishfaq Ahmad, Manfred Huber, and Addison Clark. 2020. Object detection and sensory feedback techniques in building smart cane for the visually impaired: an overview. In Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments. 1–7.

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Galit Buchs, Noa Simon, Shachar Maidenbaum, and Amir Amedi. 2017. Waist-up protection for blind individuals using the EyeCane as a primary and secondary mobility aid. Restorative neurology and neuroscience 35, 2 (2017), 225–235.

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Emerson Foulke. 1970. The perceptual basis for mobility. DOCUMENT RESUME ED 84, 738 (1970), 93.

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Sung Yeon Kim and Kwangsu Cho. 2013. Usability and design guidelines of smart canes for users with visual impairments. international Journal of Design 7, 1 (2013).

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Árni Kristjánsson, Alin Moldoveanu, Ómar I Jóhannesson, Oana Balan, Simone Spagnol, Vigdís Vala Valgeirsdóttir, and Rúnar Unnthorsson. 2016. Designing sensory-substitution devices: Principles, pitfalls and potential 1. Restorative neurology and neuroscience 34, 5 (2016), 769–787.

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Arshad Nasser, Kai-Ning Keng, and Kening Zhu. 2020. ThermalCane: Exploring Thermotactile Directional Cues on Cane-Grip for Non-Visual Navigation. In The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Virtual Event, Greece) (ASSETS ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 20, 12 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3373625.3417004

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Jagannadh Pariti and Tae Oh. 2020. Understanding the Hand and Wrist Strains Caused by Smart Cane Handles with Haptic Notification. In The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Virtual Event, Greece) (ASSETS ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 86, 4 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3373625.3418028

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Cited By

Minatani K(2024)Proposal for a Versatile Smart White Cane Infrastructure Using a 3D Printer: As a R&D Platform and a Practical Product DesignProceedings of the 17th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments10.1145/3652037.3652064(21-26)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3652037.3652064
Kuriakose BCosescu IShrestha RSandnes F(2023)Mind Your Step: A Diary Study of a Person with Visual Impairment Navigating a City with a Smart CaneICT for Health, Accessibility and Wellbeing10.1007/978-3-031-29548-5_3(34-48)Online publication date: 30-Mar-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29548-5_3

Index Terms

”Would the smart cane benefit me?”: Perceptions of the Visually Impaired towards Smart Canes
1. Human-centered computing
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing profession
  2. User characteristics
    1. People with disabilities

Index terms have been assigned to the content through auto-classification.

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

ASSETS '21: Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

October 2021

730 pages

ISBN:9781450383066

DOI:10.1145/3441852

Editors:
Jonathan Lazar
University of Maryland, USA
,
Jinjuan Heidi Feng
Towson University, USA
,
Faustina Hwang
Towson University, USA

Copyright © 2021 Owner/Author.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

Sponsors

SIGACCESS: ACM Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 17 October 2021

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Poster
Research
Refereed limited

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ASSETS '21

Sponsor:

SIGACCESS

ASSETS '21: The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

October 18 - 22, 2021

Virtual Event, USA

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ASSETS '21 Paper Acceptance Rate 36 of 134 submissions, 27%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 436 of 1,556 submissions, 28%

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Cited By

Minatani K(2024)Proposal for a Versatile Smart White Cane Infrastructure Using a 3D Printer: As a R&D Platform and a Practical Product DesignProceedings of the 17th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments10.1145/3652037.3652064(21-26)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3652037.3652064
Kuriakose BCosescu IShrestha RSandnes F(2023)Mind Your Step: A Diary Study of a Person with Visual Impairment Navigating a City with a Smart CaneICT for Health, Accessibility and Wellbeing10.1007/978-3-031-29548-5_3(34-48)Online publication date: 30-Mar-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29548-5_3

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